10 Things You Need To Know This Morning

Asian markets were higher in overnight trading, with the
Nikkei up 0.7 percent and the Hang Seng up 0.5 percent.
European markets are trading higher, with Italian stocks up
1.2 percent. In the United States, futures point to a positive
open.

Australia retail sales
unexpectedly fell 0.1 percent in November, below
expectations of a 0.3 percent rise. The decline – Australia's
first in four months – was driven by a drop in spending on
household goods and clothing.

The U.K. trade deficit
narrowed to £9.164 billion in November, largely owing
to a 2.9 percent boost in exports – the largest since July.
Economists had expected the deficit to narrow even further
to £9.0 billion.

German industrial production
rose 0.2 percent in November, below estimates of a 1.0
percent expansion. The figure was dragged lower by energy
output, which fell 3.3 percent, and production of consumer
goods, which fell 2.2 percent.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration
forecasts that U.S. oil imports
will fall to their lowest level in 25 years next year,
owing to the rise of new technologies like hydraulic fracturing
and horizontal drilling that unlock oil from difficult-to-reach
places. The EIA also predicts this will bring Brent crude oil
prices down to $99 per barrel in 2014 from last year's average
price of $112.

Boeing shares are tumbling after an
electrical fire on a grounded 787 jet caused federal safety
inspectors to
step up scrutiny of the plane manufacturer. Boeing has a
history of electrical problems with the 787, so the issue is
all too familiar for investors.

Two media reports claim
Apple is working on a less expensive model of its popular
iPhone that could save by using a
different body, possibly made of plastic. Business Insider's
Jay Yarow writes, "If Apple is going to grow its iPhone unit sales,
it needs to figure out how to sell a phone in emerging markets
like China and India at an affordable price."

Dish Network launched an
unsolicited bid to take over Clearwire for $3.30 per share.
The offer comes after Sprint Nextel agreed to purchase the rest of
Clearwire shares that it does not
already own for $2.97 each. The new bid sets up an interesting
showdown over one of the biggest mergers in the cell phone
industry.

The Venezuelan government is trying to
push back the date of Hugo Chávez's inauguration for his
third term as president due to his bedridden status in a Cuban
hospital following emergency cancer surgery. The move has
sparked an outrage among the opposition, which insists that,
according to the law, a special election must now be held and
Chávez must pass the reins to an ally.